


Broken Love for Broken People

by BoWritesStuff



Series: Oneshots! [17]
Category: Game Grumps
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 08:26:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15703506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoWritesStuff/pseuds/BoWritesStuff





	Broken Love for Broken People

“And I’m just AAAGHHH OH MY GOD I WAS SO CLOSE!” Dan shouts at the TV. He laughs at his own reaction, staring at the black “Game Over” screen on the TV. It was late at night, and the office was except for the two of them. Dan’s laughter is awkward cut off when Arin doesn’t laugh back, with just a stiff and unnatural looking smile on his face. 

It’s been nearly an hour since they started recording, but it feels like the entire night has passed. Dan forces one last burst of fake happiness. 

“And next time on Game Gru/mps! More of me dying,” Dan says. He waits a few moments before turning off the recording system. The entire office is silent, only illuminated by the large TV in front of them. Dan sighs, getting off the couch to turn on the lights and turn off the TV. Arin doesn’t move, doesn’t say a word. Dan would say that it’s unsettling, but he’s been like this for the last hour of recording. Dan puts away the controller in the cabinets, and glances over at Arin. He’s snapped out of his daze now, at least, but there’s still something wrong. He doesn’t joke around like he usually does. He doesn’t do anything. 

“Alright, Arin, what’s wrong.” Dan asks, sitting down next to him on the couch. Arin doesn’t make any move, he doesn’t even seem to notice that Dan sat down next to him. He’s just completely zoned out and dazed. He’s seen Arin like this before, after long days working, but today was nothing different than yesterday. 

“Nothing’s wrong.” 

Something’s definitely wrong. 

Dan knows when something is wrong with Arin. It’s natural, and he can pick up on it almost as quickly as Suzy can. Arin can sometimes slip in dissociative moods after being in a room of people, or after a bad day, but it’s not often that Arin just wakes up and is… this bad. And Arin doesn’t lie about these things. Dan and Suzy made him promise to tell them about these things, so they could help. That was years ago. Arin doesn’t break these types of promises. 

“Arin, something is wrong. I know you. C’mon man, you know me. Just… talk to me.” Dan says with dimming hope as nothing happens. Arin’s gaze is just as unfocused as before. His eyes are locked on Dan’s face, but at the same time it feels like Arin is looking right through him. “Arin, please. You know I just wanna help you. You know that, right?” 

Arin nods, slowly. Dan feels a rush of relief. This is progress. A tiny step, but a step forward at least. 

“Yeah, so just tell me what’s wrong. I can try to help. And if I can’t help, it’ll at least help you feel better, right?”

There’s a silence that Dan dreads. 

By now, Arin would have agreed and told him what was wrong. Arin doesn’t like seeing Dan or Suzy upset. But he doesn’t break. He doesn’t budge. He just sits there, staring off into space, right through Dan. It sends chills down his back and a sour taste up his throat. He swallows. 

If Arin isn’t going to tell him, he’s going to tell Suzy. 

“Arin, you know if you don’t tell me, I’m going to tell Suzy,” it sounds like a childish thing, tattling, snitching, whatever you call it. But Dan is worried and nothing is working. This isn’t normal. This isn’t Arin. Something is very, very wrong. And he wants to help but Arin isn’t giving anything away. 

“Dan, I told you, I’m fine-” 

“Obviously you’re not!” Dan sees a spark of emotion in Arin’s eyes, and hope flutters up in his chest. 

It’s doused immediately. 

“You can’t tell me when I’m ok! You aren’t me! And you can’t tell me what I feel!” Arin shouts, on his feet, pointing a finger at Dan. He flinches away. Arin doesn’t yell at Dan. Not like this. 

“Arin?” 

“And I’m so fucking tired of you two always trying to get me to talk about my feelings! I’m a grown ass man and I can't fucking deal with my own problems apparently!” 

“Arin you’re scaring me.” Dan whimpers. It only takes those few words for Arin to completely die down. Dan doesn’t know if he’s relieved or not. 

He knows that Arin would never hurt him. He knows that Arin would never hit him. He knows that Arin would never abuse him. He knows that he was safe while Arin was yelling. 

But it scared him. But it scared him to see him go from genuinely angry to completely empty in a matter of seconds. Arin stays standing, his hands loosely at his sides, his eyes down at his feet, and his face neutral. 

“I’m sorry for shouting.” Arin whispers before starting to walk away. Dan only hesitates for a moment before running after him. He may have just yelled at him, but Arin’s the love of his life. Dan gently stops Arin, putting a hand on his shoulder. Arin stops, and Dan slowly wraps his hands around Arin, burying his face in between Arin’s shoulder blades. 

“Arin, you’re pissed. And I get that. But I’m really scared of you being… kinda numb like that. It freaks me out, man.” he feels Arin relax under his touch, “So if you could please just talk to me. It’s not because we don’t think you can’t handle your problems on your own, but it’s because we know that we can help. I’m sure Suzy would go bat shit crazy if she found out I just let you be this angry.” 

Arin lets out a deep sigh. A hand goes to Dan’s hand, gently rubbing his arm. 

Thank God. His Arin is back. 

“Yeah, I know. It’s just that…” Arin trails off. Dan nods, and Arin smiles when he feels Dan’s soft hair gently tickling the back of his neck. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I know.” 

They stand in silence, both swaying back and forth gently, taking their time to calm down. 

“Do you want to talk about it? You don’t have to, but if you don’t, I’m going to have to tell Suzy. You know that.” Arin nods. 

“Yeah, I think it would be best to talk about it.” 

Dan nods, swaying back and forth, enjoying the warmth of Arin’s body. 

“I think I’m depressed again.” 

It’s so strange to get such horrible news like that, and to just keep on holding onto each other. Dan doesn’t stop swaying, his grip on Arin only gets tighter. 

God. Depression.   
He remembers when Arin finally talked about it. He remembered his own depression, how horrible he felt, but his depression was caused by his OCD. Arin’s was caused by his own self image. 

He remembers how Arin described it, like it was a spectrum, with good emotions on the right side, and the bad emotions on the left side. Arin described his depression as a wall that traps him on the left side, so that all he can feel is anger and sadness and numbness. 

Dan hugs him a little tighter. 

“I’m really afraid.” Dan can tell that Arin’s crying now. 

“I know. But Suzy and I will help. And we can get a therapist if you need one. You know that we’ll do anything for you.” 

Arin can feel something crack in him. A tiny, miniscule crack travels through the wall in his emotions. It’s barely anything compared to the wall, but it’s a start. 

“I know, Dan.”


End file.
